The high plains aquifer: Can we make it last?

IMAGE: These are water level changes in the High Plains aquifer from pre-development (about 1950) to 2013, with primary area of declines circled. Modified from McGuire (2014).
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Credit: Susan Stover, Rex Buchanan, and GSA Today.

Boulder, Colorado, USA: The heart of the United States is a highly productive agricultural region. This "breadbasket" underpins much of U.S. society, but it also relies almost entirely on a complex network of diminishing groundwater resources. In a short and provocative article, for GSA Today, Susan Stover and Rex Buchanan ask a simple question: "How long can the High Plains aquifer last?"

This is a crucial question -- one that should force people across multiple disciplines and across multiple political divides to unite. The authors note examples for hope with good management, but this may take extraordinary efforts in a presently highly divided country. The article should get people, from all walks of life, collectively talking on a major issue.

GSA Today articles are open access online; for a print copy, please contact Kea Giles. Please discuss articles of interest with the authors before publishing stories on their work, and please make reference to GSA Today in articles published.

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